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Post by Crucis#1 on Feb 23, 2021 18:09:22 GMT -5
Easy to make that statement with the retrospective from 2021. I will share a bit of history regarding the facility. When the Hart was conceived, a swimming pool was supposed to have been built in phase 1 instead of the rink. It was changed after much lobbying by several hockey team members, students and alumni in 1973. One of the team members after college became a US Representative from Maine. At the time the Hart was design in 1973, it was state of the art and ahead of our peers regarding the facility. Most indoor rinks built at the time were single use building, with portable bleacher seating that sat on a concrete base on one side of the rink. The buildings generally were simply constructed with an aluminum siding shell surrounding a rink, At the time both MIT and UConn played in outdoor rinks. The MIT rink was notoriously cold as it was a block from the Charles River and night games reached temperatures in the single digits. The only schools that had permanent seating were the Ivy’s, BC and UNH and Vermont in New England. NCAA hockey was still fairly new as the first championship game was held in 1948. Schools that were powers then, have fallen aside. Hockey was only played in New England and the Upper Mid West, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. If you want to see an old style enclosed rink, whose amenities are very spartan, visit the Amherst College Rink. It is still in use and also serves as the locker room facility for the visiting football teams in the NESCAC. The teams have to hike from the Amherst rink to Pratt Field about two block away and across Rt. 116. Talk about a school that could well afford a new rink, with a 2.5 billion dollar endowment. I was surprised when I was on campus for a football game three years ago as I watched the visiting team leave Pratt Field, walk through a residential street, across a busy intersection at Rt. 116 and down the hill to the hockey rink. Before HC moved to the Hart in 1975, the team played in the old Worcester Arena, in Webster Square in the South Main section of Worcester. It was a place that had some memorable features. notability the dashboards that instead of plexiglass, had chicken wire. Whenever the puck hit, there would be a ping sound instead of a thud. Games against St.Anselm’s were always fun, as there crazies would attempt to scale the chicken wire in order to intimidate our players. The other school that had a state of the art new arena in the early 1970’s was Wesleyan. They too have an rink, still in use in the Freeman Athletic Complex built around the original rink, that is single sided regarding seating. That was the standard design for new rinks in the early 1970’s for ECAC Division 2 and 3 schools. Orr Rink at Amherst is NICER than Holy Cross and was built in 1954 and had a renovation in 1997. Providence College's Scheinder Arena opened on September 24th, 1973 and Walter Brown Arena was built in 1971 for BU. I missed adding PC and BU. When I was touring these campuses and looking at athletic facilities in 1971, neither were open. I was in the Amherst Rink on November 4, 2017 after Amherst played Trinity in football. The Trinity team was using the Amherst Rink to change before boarding the bus back to Hartford. The place was a dark architectural unappealing both inside and out and depressing. Shirley, you can’t be serious. (Intentionally misspelled for humor).Objectively it is not nicer that the Hart Rink. It is an isolated facility that sits apart and down the hill from the Amherst Gym and Coaching offices on Rt 116. I walked the entire interior parameter around the rink and still remain unimpressed 3 + years later. |
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Post by bfoley82 on Feb 23, 2021 19:32:36 GMT -5
Orr Rink at Amherst is NICER than Holy Cross and was built in 1954 and had a renovation in 1997. Providence College's Scheinder Arena opened on September 24th, 1973 and Walter Brown Arena was built in 1971 for BU. I missed adding PC and BU. When I was touring these campuses and looking at athletic facilities in 1971, neither were open. I was in the Amherst Rink on November 4, 2017 after Amherst played Trinity in football. The Trinity team was using the Amherst Rink to change before boarding the bus back to Hartford. The place was a dark architectural unappealing both inside and out and depressing. Shirley, you can’t be serious. (Intentionally misspelled for humor).Objectively it is not nicer that the Hart Rink. It is an isolated facility that sits apart and down the hill from the Amherst Gym and Coaching offices on Rt 116. I walked the entire interior parameter around the rink and still remain unimpressed 3 + years later. The Amherst Rink is literally NEXT door to the basketball gym. The Amherst rink's lighting maybe wasn't turned on to competition level when you went in because that is far from dark. map.concept3d.com/?id=750#!ce/15071?ct/15071,15238,15237,11132 If you are going to say Amherst rink is isolated, what do you consider the Hart Center??? And your football comment has nothing to do with the rink....There is no excuse for that setup for Amherst visiting Football/Lacrosse teams having to walk that far from the locker rooms. |
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Post by longsuffering on Feb 23, 2021 20:37:10 GMT -5
LS, I don’t believe the increase cost of the PPAC had a direct impact regarding a yes or no decision on the hockey rink. The increase for the PPAC occurred after the initial gift from Mr. Prior. The decision regarding a major upgrade to the rink had already been made. This was not a zero sum game decision regarding the two facilities. PPAC vs New Rink. The PPAC is a building that has been in discussion since the mid 60’s and is needed to strengthen the arts program. Earlier I provided a link to the new Villanova facility. HC was in a similar position regarding the need for a new comprehensive space for performing arts. The PPAC, designed by a world renowned architectural firm will greatly enhance HC reputation as a vital Liberal Arts College. Hope the PPAC will enhance HC standings in peer academic consortiums such as the Oberlin Group Bottom line, when the call was made, people stepped up to fund the new PPAC, even with the additional cost. Unfortunately, and I mean it, as I have been to many hockey games, including road trips to Colby when HC was playing them, and standing in the old outdoor rinks at MIT and UConn. Hockey serves a strategic purpose for HC as it provides a vehicle for international recruiting from Canada and Europe. The advocates for a major changes for the rink, apparently did not raise the dollars necessary to fund the upgrade. With the present facility, to accomplish an upgrade will require a brand new building. It was a lost, to loose Coach Pearl. Wish he had not gotten into a snit and walked away. Wonder if he had offered to help raise funds for the project? Interesting fact regarding the present state of NCAA hockey.. NCAA has 61 men’s hockey team as of 2020-2021, an increase of one from 2019-2020, (LIU). Of these schools 21 are Division 2 or 3 athletic programs that “play up” to Division 1 in hockey. 16 of the Division 1 members are in the Football Bowl Subdivision. There are 41 schools that field D1 women’s teams. Got any spare change to jump start a round of funding for a new rink? I'll be out there with a metal detector when the snow melts. I think HC has an advantage over schools with a similar level hockey facility. We have the DCU for big games. If a new coach can conquer the AHA, the rest will fall into place. |
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Post by timholycross on Feb 24, 2021 0:07:52 GMT -5
The other story w/the Hart was that Perini offered to build the basketball arena larger (approx 5K seating instead of what it is). TPTB didn't want it that large.
The irony behind that isn't that the way things went after 1980, the additional seats weren't needed; but that if it were larger I bet it'd be smaller now with all or most bleacher seats converted to chairs.
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Post by nhteamer on Feb 24, 2021 9:25:25 GMT -5
Since we beat Minnesota in 2006, we have won three best-of-3 playoff series, all at home: Canisius in 2011 Army in 2012 RIT in 2014 2011 was the only time we made it as far as the league semis (lost to Air Force). How many schools would have been so negligent as to not capitalize on the splash of that '06 win? Us, only us. Hide the light under a bushel, stay humble, "thanks for noticing"........our leadership at it's best. |
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Post by matunuck on Feb 24, 2021 9:34:01 GMT -5
Pearl wanted to make HC a highly competitive hockey program for the long haul. He obviously invested many years at HC but left when it became clear the HC admin wasn't nearly on the same page.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Feb 24, 2021 9:35:23 GMT -5
^^^ Similarly, if there was ever a time to capitalize on the basketball success we had under Willard from 99-07 and the respect we gained in the CBB community as a legitimate dangerous mid-major, we may have been able to sneak our way into the A10 when conference realignment was a thing. Unfortunately, with Regan and McF at the helm, that was never happening.
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Post by rgs318 on Feb 24, 2021 9:43:21 GMT -5
Showing clear indifference, the Army game on the West Point t site is listed as postponed, but HC has it still on (yesterday) not postponed or cancelled.
With the Bentley series now canned, is the regular season over for men's hockey?
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Post by trimster on Feb 24, 2021 10:33:59 GMT -5
The other story w/the Hart was that Perini offered to build the basketball arena larger (approx 5K seating instead of what it is). TPTB didn't want it that large. The irony behind that isn't that the way things went after 1980, the additional seats weren't needed; but that if it were larger I bet it'd be smaller now with all or most bleacher seats converted to chairs. That decision was a a sign of things to come. Perhaps the first. |
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Post by beachbound on Feb 24, 2021 21:29:27 GMT -5
Crucis#1...good perspectives. Thanks for sharing. Further thoughts: - At no time since all of these major capital projects have been tackled at HC in the last 10 years has it been made public that a new rink is desired by the institution. Never. If it was truly and honestly a big desire by the institution and its leaders to have a new rink on campus (now, 10 years ago, 20 years ago) they would have prioritized that with their solicitation of donors. New athletic buildings on campus don't always get funded through back-door secret meetings with the world's elite. Especially at HC where Hockey is far from a top priority, a new rink and the fundraising required would have needed a tremendous public announcement to garner up 100's and 100's of potentially interested parties...ex: an actual Campaign with a new hockey rink as the goal. Think many donors, not one big fish. Bottom line: the school didn't prioritize it, and wasn't going to prioritize it. Regardless of what Paul Pearl thought, or could do on his own. - This thread has turned in the last day to a focus on Hockey East and a new rink. Fine I guess, but in my opinion both of those topics need to be locked in a box until the current state of this men's hockey program is formally addressed and new leadership brought in to raise it from the awfully poor state it is currently in. Correct, the focus should be on the coach, program and the plan to make the team successful in AHA. I think there are hurdles, but instead of rehashing those, let’s focus on the positive. There are 18 scholarships, an awesome education with an unbelievable alumni network, division 1 athletics with a chance to compete against the best programs. A new and hopefully inspired choice as our new president. While the rink is not Schneider Arena, HC does have 1st class facilities overall and can pack the place for good games . . . See ASU, UMass (Cale makar played at the Hart) and PC the last 2-3 yrs. Going back thru goholycross.com, Pine signed HCDB thru the 2021-22 season. Instead of eating the last year of his contract, I would not be surprised if there is a COVID pass for this year as there are also Athletic Department budget challenges due to COVID. Hope you can hang in there for a little longer aaa8316. |
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Post by matunuck on Feb 24, 2021 21:58:20 GMT -5
Men’s hockey has 18 scholarships?
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aaa8316
Crusader Century Club
Posts: 125
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Post by aaa8316 on Feb 25, 2021 10:02:27 GMT -5
Men’s hockey has 18 scholarships? Yes. |
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aaa8316
Crusader Century Club
Posts: 125
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Post by aaa8316 on Feb 25, 2021 10:07:43 GMT -5
beachbound...good points.
I'm only one person/alum. But what I hope Administration gets clear asap is that there are 100's of alumni right now talking about the fall of men's hockey at HC. And those alums are looking for answers.
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Post by HC92 on Feb 25, 2021 10:49:29 GMT -5
beachbound...good points. I'm only one person/alum. But what I hope Administration gets clear asap is that there are 100's of alumni right now talking about the fall of men's hockey at HC. And those alums are looking for answers. I don’t know about 100s but those of us who do care really care. If one of us was rich, that would help considerably. If Berard does stay, we can plan on an empty recruiting class given the record and a coach in the final year of his contract. |
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aaa8316
Crusader Century Club
Posts: 125
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Post by aaa8316 on Feb 25, 2021 10:59:08 GMT -5
I can attest to it being 100's. The majority don't even know this forum exists, nor do they care.
Likewise, Admin doesn't care about this forum.
But I'll bet anyone a beer at Herbie's that AD Blossom's phone is busier now more than ever with respect to the current Men's Hockey program.
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Post by rgs318 on Feb 25, 2021 11:07:00 GMT -5
From what I saw after last night's game, ADMB has some skin in the game and really cares about our teams, athletes and coaches...and about their winning! CROSSPORTS viewing is not a requirement for anything that I know of. This is a very interested group of HC fans (and friends) who share what they know and how they feel about HC sports. If the hockey fans you cite don't care about CROSSPORTS, fine. It is a shame they choose not to check in and share their knowledge - but they may not have anything new to share. I believe CROSSPORTS will survive. As to admin not caring...you may not see statements quoting CROSSPORTS by administrators, but many are well aware of what is posted here. You can count on that.
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Post by matunuck on Feb 25, 2021 11:51:29 GMT -5
So true, RGS.
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Post by timholycross on Feb 25, 2021 12:35:28 GMT -5
The other story w/the Hart was that Perini offered to build the basketball arena larger (approx 5K seating instead of what it is). TPTB didn't want it that large. The irony behind that isn't that the way things went after 1980, the additional seats weren't needed; but that if it were larger I bet it'd be smaller now with all or most bleacher seats converted to chairs. That decision was a a sign of things to come. Perhaps the first. Close to the first. The first was the decision to make athletic scholarships need based in the summer of 1970; which, of course, got reversed quickly thereafter (but not soon enough to ruin Jack D.'s last couple of recruiting classes). The precursor to the Patriot League. |
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